


"I Need Her More"

by lilleiaorgana



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Spoilers, Bucky Possibly Has A Crush on Kate, F/M, Flashbacks, Grief/Mourning, Post-Avengers: Endgame (Movie), Sorry for Tony Slander it's nothing personal, but don't we all
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-06
Updated: 2019-06-06
Packaged: 2020-04-11 23:30:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,727
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19119937
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lilleiaorgana/pseuds/lilleiaorgana
Summary: Kate Bishop recalls the time she met Natasha Romanoff





	"I Need Her More"

"Do you know what the worst part of it all is?" Kate asked, her voice on the verge of cracking. "I knew her longer than I knew my mother. Not that she was my mom... or that I thought of her as sort of... replacement to my mom... but she was a constant. She was a female presence that filled the gap of... love..."

Bucky sat on the steps, playing a mental game with himself where he'd inch his fingers towards her to hold her hand. He would get closer and closer as she spoke and he'd get more afraid to hold her for fear of rejection and even losing this new friend of his. Her long calloused fingers and the long nails painted a dark purple twitched and shook as she spoke, all he wanted to do was hold on tight and calm them. His hands long to hold hers as if it would take both of their pain away. That was what he wanted more than anything, to absorb her sadness. 

"How old were you when you met her?" He asked softly, looking at her.

"Eight. I was... kidnapped and held for ransom. It was right after my mom was killed, everyone thought it might be somewhat related. It was just a bad, bad group of people that wanted to exploit a little girl and grieving family. Though I guess now, I was really the only one grieving. Clint and Natasha were sent in to get me and take out the bad guys..." Kate swallowed thickly. 

The floor was cold, she didn't know where she was but if she had to guess she was in Russia. She knew it got cold in Russia and she'd heard a story from her dad's friend that they used to take little girls from their parents and raise them to be soldiers for the enemy and they didn't get all of the luxuries she got, so she obviously had to eat all of her peas. Kate had felt like one of those girls, hardly eating and being yelled at by men with European accents. She knew French and Spanish, but this other language was too fast and difficult for her. Kate had no idea that you could be so hungry that you couldn't sleep and then be so tired that you could hardly wake up. 

"My uncle Tony will save me, he has a friend in the Air Force and the Air Force will save me." She told one of the other girls with her. "He's Tony Stark, he can blow this place up."

"Your uncle destroys everything he touches." A Iraqi boy told her. 

Kate knew this, she could remember her mom telling her that Tony was bad for selling weapons and helping their country harm other countries. Her mom was big into talking situations out, though her mom had once fought with guns and her hands. She'd told Kate that changed when she became a mom, that she decided to put the guns and fists down and use her words for the greater and the people that needed them more than warlords. Kate thought that was honorable then, but now she was hoping her drunk godfather would save her somehow. 

They'd fallen asleep shortly after but woke up to the sound of guns and screaming. Kate opened the top of the box and made sure the little boy was safe, fully prepared to call a parlay or fight on her on with her eight year old fists and playground fighting skills. She was brave. She was her mother's daughter. She would save herself if need be. 

Instead, a woman came in. Red hair and blood on her face from the fight. She turned her head and called out a name that Kate couldn't hear, in awe of the woman in front of her.  The woman opened the box and sighed in relief when the boy was accounted for. The man she called for came in, held Kate by the shoulders and made sure she wasn't injured. 

"Hey, are you okay?" He asked softly. His voice sounded familiar. 

Kate looked at him, furrowing her brow until he gave her a dopey smile. "Agent Clint." 

He nodded, "Hey girlie girl. Glad you remember me, we're gonna get you home." 

Kate looked back at Natasha who was talking to the boy, hugging Clint tightly. She had been so scared, but brave to not scare the boy with her. She sobbed into his shoulder and wouldn't let go. Her mom knew him, Clint went to a birthday party once. He gave her a play bow. It was her favorite. 

"Hey, hey. You're safe, hon. No one's gonna hurt you now." He picked her up and took the other boy with his other arm as the red haired woman made sure they got back to the jet safely. 

On the jet, Natasha made sure both the kids got bathed before going to the Iraq embassy to return the boy to his father. Kate went to SHIELD headquarters, whining about being hungry until she saw Fury. He ignored agents in his way to run to her, kneeling in front of her. 

"You scared me to death, little Bishop." He spoke sternly, his thumb over one of her bruises. He looked beside himself. 

"I'm okay, Fury." She touched his face too. "I'm okay."

He hugged her, rubbing her back. "I'm putting a tracker on you, little girl. And barbed wire all around you so no one can touch you."

"Can you get me some food first?" She mumbled. 

He laughed and nodded, pulling away. "You hear that, Barton?"

"Just like her mama." He smiled, ruffling Kate's hair gently.

The red haired woman stood against the wall, watching Kate curiously. It was her job, to make sure there was nothing odd about her, anything that seemed Red Room. Fury got up and left the room with Barton casually, telling her they were going to get her something to eat. The woman walked closer to her and sat in a chair in front of her. 

"Are you a valkyrie?" Kate asked her, tilting her head.

The woman shook her head, "I'm an agent of Shield. My name is Natasha. You're a pretty big deal around here, Kate."

"My mom died. She worked here too, they all feel bad for me so they smother me." Kate shrugged, that's what her dad had told her after the funeral.

Natasha looked down, "I'm to hear about that, but they do care about you. I've been here for a year and I've never seen Fury act like that..."

Kate shrugged again, not sure what Natasha wanted from her. "My mom was his favorite. Is Tony coming?"

"Who's Tony?" She asked her, like she was taking mental notes.

Kate frowned, figuring that was a big no. "My godfather. He's supposed to be there for me always and protect me from bad guys. I thought he was going to save me but I guess he was busy. He's busy a lot. Usually if I need him, he'll send Pepper. She's really nice."

Kate started to cry, missing her mom and missing the beach they went to when it was cold. The feeling of the sand on her feet and how Mom had laughed when Kate tried to feed the seagull and ended up running away and how they took a big nap on a blanket and went to a diner when they were hungry. That was before Mom had died, just when her cancer went into remission and they were going to be okay. Mom had promised days like that, days where they were carefree and happy to be alive.

Natasha put her hand on Kate's small and shaky hand, fighting the training she had before and comforting the girl. Feeling empathy and the urge to console her. She'd never felt like that before. Clint came in with a PB&J, looking more than confused by Kate crying and Natasha holding her hand. He set the sandwich down and knelt by Kate, rubbing her back. 

"PB&J okay?" He asked her. 

"What's that?" She sniffled. 

Clint and Natasha shared a look, the kind of look adults give each other when a child does something that is humorous to an adult. 

"It's peanut butter and Jelly, kid." He told her. 

Kate blinked and shook her head, "Yeah, I can't eat it. It's not cut."

Natasha took the plate and then a knife out, smiling a bit as Kate's eyes went wide. She cut it diagonally, the way she knew Fury took his toast. "That better?"

Kate wiped her cheeks off and smiled, "That's how my mom cut my Reubens."

Clint started laughing then giving Kate's temple a kiss when she swatted at him. "You eat Reuben sandwiches?"

"They're delicious! You don't know anything..." Kate scowled at him, eating her sandwich. 

"He's a big dummy, Ruebens are delicious." Natasha smiled at Kate. 

Kate smirked behind the sandwich and kicked Natasha gently under the table, they were on the same side. Clint Barton was a dummy. 

Later, Clint stood at the bar and waited for the bartender to come over to get him another beer. "I thought you hated kids."

"I do. That's a not a kid, that's a valkyrie." Natasha smiled. 

Clint looked at her, "Uh, what?"

"Female warriors that took other soldiers to Valhalla and protected Odin. She asked if I was one." Natasha dragged her cherry in the residual alcohol. "I like her, I really do. I have... a strong urge to protect her and it upsets me. I'm not supposed to have that... urge anymore."

Clint knew about the Red Room, the graduation and it all. "They didn't take your empathy, Nat."

Natasha nodded and cleared her throat, "I guess not." 

He bumped his knee into hers, smiling a bit at her. "She could use you in her life."

"I think I might need her more than she needs me." She admitted quickly, looking away as tears filled her eyes. She had never been so vulnerable, so emotional around him. 

He grabbed her hand and rubbed the palm, "I feel the same way about both of you." 

Natasha awkwardly hugged him, knowing that it was the right time to do that sort of thing. She sighed and relaxed into the feeling. 

 

 


End file.
